Macquarie ready to broker Storm deal

Macquarie Bank
will start trying to broker a deal with Storm Financial clients at a mediation session next week, a court has heard.

The bank is being pursued in the Federal Court in Brisbane by a group of investors whose financial security was devastated when the Townsville-based financial services company folded in early 2009.

They are seeking compensation from Macquarie on the grounds that it engaged in "unconscionable conduct" in approving loans and also breached the terms of those loan contracts.

The class action is being run in conjunction with a case by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), which is asking the court to declare that Macquarie and the Bank of Queensland were "knowingly concerned in the operation of (Storm's) unregistered scheme".

A group of investors is also pursuing the Commonwealth Bank, which recently made a deal with ASIC guaranteeing a total of $270 million will be made available to customers who invested through Storm Financial.

ASIC estimates the total loss suffered by all investors who borrowed money from banks to invest through Storm to be around $830 million.

Macquarie Bank lawyer John Sheahan told the Federal Court on Tuesday he and legal representatives for the investors will meet next Friday for a mediation session in Brisbane.